Well, they did get to watch.
It was just that... it wasn’t quite in the way anyone expected.
Because right when things were supposed to go according to plan, everything had to change—again.
At the most crucial moment, Luca noticed that his father’s comms had gone silent. He’d initially replied to his father, who asked, ’What?’ and hadn’t thought much about it until he realized that the mecha was slowly descending towards the monster!
"Papa?"
No response.
Huh?
Then, suddenly, D-29’s alarmed prompt cut through the chaos. "Host! The Duke seems to have lost consciousness!"
"Oh no! Papa!"
Luca’s heart almost leapt out of his chest. His body froze momentarily, his eyes wide with shock. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen his father faint before, but this was different.
This was a battlefield. And for the son who had learned that his father was the Empire’s War God, knowing that he fainted in battle almost scared him to death.
Because his father was really strong and healthy! And moments ago, they’d even been talking excitedly! So what was wrong?!
But then Xavier’s calm but firm voice came through the comms, breaking him out of his mental shackles.
"Luca, get the Duke out of here. We’ll handle this."
Luca was prompted into action, getting to his father’s side as fast as possible. But then he hesitated because what about the others?
Maybe they should all leave first?
But the prince continued quietly, his tone carrying unshakable certainty.
"You can trust us."
"Don’t worry, we’ll finish the job."
"Yes, brother! We’ll be fine here! You already gave us everything we need!" the blonde called out, earning quick nods of agreement from the others.
Those words hit home.
The turmoil in the anxious son’s chest eased just a little. Since his friends were here... if it were them, he could believe it.
"...Alright," Luca whispered, steadying himself as D-29 secured his father’s mecha. A moment later, the three of them vanished into the safety of his dungeon space, leaving the raging battlefield behind.
__
Meanwhile, inside the parasitic bloom’s maw—lit only by the faint glow of whatever unlucky luminescent creature it had last swallowed—Sid moved like a ghost beneath the crushing pressure.
"Engage stealth mode and deactivate non-vital processes," Xavier commanded.
The guardian mecha followed, and every system that wasn’t absolutely necessary was powered down one by one until the guardian mecha’s silhouette vanished completely into the dark waters.
If it were just about stealth, there was no need to go that far, since Luca’s design already made Sid nearly undetectable.
But Xavier also wanted to save as much spiritual energy for what they were planning on doing. After all, without Luca, their plans had changed somewhat.
The world turned silent, save for the low hum of Sid’s cockpit.
The journey through the enormous cavity was longer than expected. The deeper they went, the more distorted the readings became. Then the clear glow from Jax’s barrier flickered on Sid’s sensors.
When they finally reached him, Jax’s voice cracked over the comms.
"Captain! I thought I would just be left here to be digested!"
"No such thing. Even if you were digested, eventually it would spit you back out. As you can see, Luca said it only has one opening." Said Xavier, whose mecha was taking its sweet time floating towards Jax.
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